
We've gotten a much-closer look at Avowed in recent weeks, especially with the game's appearance at Xbox Developer Direct followed up by an extended look at gameplay right after the showcase. Still, a good old developer chat is bound to provide some more juicy nuggets of info, right?
Well, Avowed game director Carrie Patel recently sat down with PCGamesN to talk about this upcoming Xbox RPG - touching on its obvious comparisons to the likes of Skyrim and The Outer Worlds.
"It’s hard in 2024 to escape some comparison to Skyrim if you’re making a first-person fantasy action RPG,
But I think the model that we’ve looked to internally is building Avowed as our fantasy take on The Outer Worlds, not with the same tone, but a similar structure to the world and in terms of scope.
For us, it’s about having a more focused experience, something that feels a little more curated. We can be a little more intentional."
That slimmer scope and focus also translates to the game's 'open world', which isn't fully open like Skyrim. Again, closer ties to Obsidian's The Outer Worlds seem more apt for Avowed.
"Our world comprises zones that are definitely not small but certainly more constrained than a massive map that you can walk from, beginning to end, in several hours. It allows us to have a little more intentionality."
Huge sprawling landscape or not, we're very much looking forward to exploring the Living Lands of Avowed on Xbox later this year. In fact, the game's smaller scale appeals to us a lot these days, especially when there's just so much to play across Xbox and Game Pass platforms!
If you'd like to read more about what Patel had to say on Avowed then the full interview is well worth a look, and in the meantime, you can expect Obsidian to be working away on its fantasy RPG for Xbox Series X|S ahead of the game's Fall 2024 launch.
Are you happy with this, or would you prefer a more traditional open world? Drop your thoughts down below.
[source pcgamesn.com]
Comments 20
I'm hoping it's not too focused. I'm really longing to get lost in an immersive first person RPG.
Few games dissapointed me as much as Skyrim, so that's great news. Even if I never thought it was going to be like Skyrim.
With this being a first person game which is spot on in my opinion, they should have gone third person action adventure with Indy.
With both realising at the end of 2024 roughly it would have been a good mixture of game types.
Instead we have two first person games.
Good! One thing I hate about "Bethesda RPGs" is that the bulk of the game's content is just finding stuff to do on your own.
I don't mind long games, but what I don't like is a 20 hour main campaign and 100+ hours of side content.
I like the MonolithSoft approach with Xenoblade Chornicles: 60 - 80 hour main campaign with about 20 hours of side content.
That's cool, but I hope it's a little less focused than The Outer Worlds. I had some fun with that game, but ultimately it was also pretty shallow and didn't scratch the itch I wanted.
@OldGamer999 I'm with you there. Microsoft has a lot of first-person games.
I was slightly disappointed that Indiana Jones will be first-person, but I'm looking at it as more of a Metroid Prime type experience since it kind of mixes third-person viewpoint "smartly" into the first-person viewpoint.
Still, I do feel like Microsoft needs to diversify a bit from the first-person viewpoint - especially when the biggest game for Xbox in 2023 was a third-person shadow drop title.
I'm not saying Xbox needs to emulate Sony with every game, just have a little more diversity in its portfolio: if Microsoft isn't creating a strategy game, it's making a first-person game.
I'd argue that Sony needs to do the same thing and diversify from the third-person melee-focused game.
Seeing the same kinds of games over and over from the same studios just gets stale after a while.
Whelp.... lost my enthusiasm for Avowed now. Comparing it to the underwhelming (to me) Outer Worlds is dissappointing. This is likely an unpopular opinion. The outer worlds just felt "limited" for lack of a better term.
i really didn't find that type of quest game worked aswell with lots of mini 'open world' maps as opposed to one big one.
if they are going with lots of smaller 'zones' it works better with a fable/mass effect style map/gameplay area imho
I'll happily take a Skyrim with decent story and without game breaking bugs that stopped me completing the game on 3 different platforms. This sounds perfect then!
@GamingFan4Lyf
Maybe because I’ve been gaming for decades I feel the games in the game industry are becoming very paint by numbers and stale, all round from everyone.
@OldGamer999 The games industry has grown way too big. There are tons of developers and publisher out there and only a few games per year really gain traction. I think it's the reason there are so many studio closures and lay-offs going on now. The gaming bubble has burst.
If you don't make an expensive AAA blockbuster, you get ignored. And if that AAA blockbuster you make fails, you're bankrupt.
I miss the days when there were only a handful of developers/publishers making games and experimentation didn't lead to financial ruin. Tons of games release every month, yet only like 1 or 2 get any kind of notice.
There are only a small handful of developers/publishers who can afford to take some risks these days:
Remedy
Kojima Productions
Annapurna Interactive
Double Fine Productions
Even indie games are follow trends - how many Metroidvania are out there now?! Roguelikes?!
I'm also tired of the "release now, fix later" mentality with games.
@GamingFan4Lyf
The fix later syndrome is not great at the moment.
My gaming pattern changed massively last year.
Switch 400 hours
Xbox 210 hours
PS5 35 hours.
The two years before was a lot different.
That mainly is due to Nintendo those big AAA games that really didn’t need patch hardly at all.
TOTK
Met prime remaster
Pikmin 4
Mario wonder
@OldGamer999 I think that's about close to my gaming habits last year.
I had only like 55 hours on PS5.
I have a couple hundred hours on Switch thanks mostly to TotK, Mario Wonder, Metroid Prime Remastered, and Super Mario RPG
I think I got about 300+ hours on Xbox maybe but that's because it's my primary third-party machine. I know I saw a count somewhere, but I don't remember.
2024 is looking to be more PS5/Xbox heavy with plenty of third-party and first-party games coming this year for both systems - Avowed being one of those games.
Switch is taking a bit of a backseat - though I did get Octopath Traveler II for Switch for Christmas and I will get the Princess Peach game to play with my daughter. I'll also get Luigi's Mansion 2 as I didn't play the 3DS version.
@GamingFan4Lyf Love the Monolith approach.
I must admit I love the way they are approaching this game.
@GamingFan4Lyf
This year so far nothing has set me alight
Ronin, seems ok let’s wait and see
Avowed and Indy let’s wait and see.
Luigi mansion 2 definitely missed the 3ds version.
Paper Mario definitely missed that as well.
Only if Sony or Xbox pop a big AAA later on for me then maybe.
Of course the big one for me is Switch 2, if that releases with Mario 3d game and say Metriod 4, then Switch will definitely win my 2024 gaming hours again along what else is above.
I never thought Switch would win one year 2023 let alone maybe 2 with possibly 2024 as well.
Shows me how things have changed with the other two big guns, especially when they don’t produce or release those very big AAA games that are instantly must buy and plays.
@GamingFan4Lyf It’s been at least a decade since I played Luigi’s Mansion Dark Moon/2… back when I was in high school! But man… it’s an incredible game. Not as good as 3 but it’s great and I’m excited to replay it on the TV and OLED Switch screen. You’re in for a good time!
I like focused, but I hope they don't strip out too many RPG elements. The lack of Romance in The Outer Worlds meant I have never touched it. The best in class RPG's give you broad role playing options. Options being the keyword.
Movements still unfinished
Waiting to see what the mood of this setting is like. Trailers and demos do a really bad job at setting the tone.
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